What did the library of Alexandria look like?

AbstractThis paper presents in detail a parametric shape grammar for the generation of ancient Greek and Roman library plans. Ancient Libraries showcase a significant variability of scale, monumentality, and design with the use of different architectural components, and researchers cannot identify them as easily as other building types. The grammar is in 2D and captures all the variability of libraries from the simpler forms of the Hellenistic period to the more monumental of the Roman period, creating a vast range of designs. The paper presents the grammar-generated plans of the known libraries based on the evidence in the archaeological record. A frequency analysis of the occurrence of the rules in the derivations ranks the different characteristics of libraries and the architectural forms with which they occur in the corpus, to determine the probability of specific rules and to interpret them as mandatory or optional. The contribution of this work is that the shape grammar summarizes the design principles of ancient libraries visually and helps establish the building type of the ancient library. The frequency analysis assists tremendously in the reconstruction of fragmentarily preserved ancient libraries by providing a system in the reconstruction of the missing parts, when ambiguity is involved.

The article represents major issues of academic subject «Libraries architecture and design» at the library-information faculty of Saint-Petersburg State Institute of Culture. Authors examine the course evolution, present its scientific and educational base (dissertations, monographs, textbooks, etc.). Goals and objectives of the discipline are identified. The represented structure of the discipline contains the following sections: 1. Introduction to architecture. Theoretical bases of architectural design; 2. Architecture and planning of library buildings. 3. Functional division of libraries’ rooms; 4. Library interiors; 5. Design of library iconic-information systems. Students are familiarized with basic terminology and theoretical approaches of architectural design in the training process. Architectural features of libraries’ buildings, main architectural styles, professional biographies of eminent architects are examined in the course. Practical trainings include developing a library building draft. The libraries’ interior design is carried out in 3D-models and compact layouts on physical media. The educational process is organized in close cooperation with professionals in the field of architecture, particularly with the leading teachers of the Department of the Interior and Equipment of St.-Petersburg State Art-Industrial Academy. They provide methodical assistance and scientific advice, thus the course get the necessary format of teaching and the complexity level of formed competencies, which is available for non-architect students taking into account their existing knowledge, skills and abilities.

The regional environment is an important reference for the landscape features and architectural designs of the whole human ecology system. Under a rapid urbanization circumstance, regional environment has become an important reference for building appearance design. Various geographical environments shape diversified customs and cultures and architectural characters. This paper focuses on looking for individual beauty of architecture among the commonality, highlighting the geographical features, showing the rich local cultures, and elaborating those unique human feelings.

The architectural design of university libraries is a systematic engineering. Based on the analysis of the main factors affecting the design, this thesis puts forward such principles in university library design like "flexibility", "efficiency", "ecology and "humanity" and thus suggests that the library architectural design should follow "three-step design process".

University library is the academic research center of modern university, known as "the heart of a university". So it should not only be in eye-catching appearance, but also has rich cultural connotation. In addition, university library also has to meet the people-oriented management idea in architectural design and layout. In this article, the author explore the design features of the university library building in new century from aspects of design concept, general plan planning, function, flow line, shape and characteristic.

Review on structure behaviour and visual appearance of a building is needed in generating creativity in the making of an architectural design. The use of any specific structure software will facilitate this in the process. This research aims to prove the effectiveness with which designers can compose alternative forms of architectural appearance through the use of the software. One of the tools in the creative process used in the exploration of 2-dimensional frame structures is DR FRAME. The observations were carried in the Structure and Construction IV Studio at Itenas Architecture Study Program Bandung through a digital simulation using DR. FRAME software demo version. Several students are invited to explore various forms of wide-span truss structures at the level of unified integration. The results through the program execution show various diagrams which can be implemented in the design of the form and the type of structural components. DR.FRAME software enriches ideas in the wide-span structure design which provides an understanding of the relationship between structural behaviour and the appearance of architectural design. The use of other supporting software is supposed to be applied as an alternative search for various structural design ideas for architecture students

The utilization of building information modeling (BIM) has become a necessary endeavor for the architectural, structural, and constructional informatics of traditional Islamic buildings. The architectural and structural data of historical Islamic buildings have thus been digitally classified and categorized in the Islamic architectural style (IAS’s) Library. The IAS library guides and aids architects in understanding and analyzing the architectural and structural components of traditional buildings, prior to designing preservation projects and developing or enhancing new projects either before and during the design phases of the project. This paper concentrates on reviving the use of parametric three-dimensional architectural components and the informatics data of the Ottoman Islamic architecture style and character. This research focuses on the regions of the Hejaz, Egypt, and Sudan Islamic Architecture Characters (HIAC, EIAC, and SuIAC) of components used on the exterior and interior of buildings during the architectural design and documentation phase of a project. The intent is to integrate the Hejazi Islamic Architecture Character (HIAC), Egyptian Islamic Architecture Character (EIAC), and Sudan Islamic Architecture Character (SuIAC) libraries and the process of BIM to provide parametric BIM generated architectural and structural components to designers’ various architectural and structural parametrical elements based in a software application. The BIM library of Islamic traditional buildings strives to ease the use of the HIAC, EIAC, and SuIAC BIM architectural components to assert the optimal accuracy in design and data through the use of digital application library. The application of BIM-Islamic architectural style (IAS) plug-in has been demonstrated through various projects from the Middle East for leading architectural offices and firms and clarifies how this IAS digital library could be applied to a project’s design in a real-world setting. The Ottoman Islamic architecture style library is the first step toward initiating and creating a comprehensive BIM library for Islamic historical building architecture components that can then be used to facilitate design conservations and develop many traditional Islamic facilities around the world.

The acquisition of the Hypnerotomachia by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries aligned with collection development objectives established in the 1950s by Architecture Dean G. Holmes Perkins. In order to support the university’s training in contemporary design for architecture and urban planning, Perkins built a collection of textual and graphic resources reflecting architectural theory and practice from the Renaissance through the twentieth century. Perkins was a modernist but expected students to acquire expertise in the whole of architectural history. The Perkins Library is made available in dedicated space within the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania.

This work describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library system.

Throughout their history, all civilized states have built buildings for libraries in line with their needs, possibilities, and imperatives. Every time any dedicated structures were designed and built to host a library, they incorporated the sense for their further use by future generations. Thus, there evolved a basis for a library of the future. The presented cases from modern international practices in library design and construction illustrate a broad range of expanding possibilities in architecture and design in this new thematic area. The use of modern structural systems, finishing materials, and lighting fixtures enable interesting and unique features in library buildings, while new spatial organisation changes the layout structure and architectonics of libraries. What is this library of the future? What particularities make it different from the libraries of the past and present? What are the key criteria of a high-quality library functioning in the future? These are major questions explored in the paper that, when answered, provide clear conclusions.